the fact that you led our troops there, and yet, the president of afghanistan, the president of the united states held a press conference, in essence, saying, you know, a lot of things just didn't work out real well. when you hear comments like that, do you feel like the men and women of the military, including yourself, who put your lives on the line and got shot at. do you feel like maybe people are thinking it was for nothing? >> i think there's always that danger. i got an e-mail from a friend of mine there now. i spoke to president karzai on the phone last night and when i got to afghanistan in the spring of 2002, the place was physically devastated and mentally traumatized and torn apart in everiway. it's very different now. there is he' been huge progress in the rights of women, children in school, development, it's not perfect, lots of problems, but afghans have a lot to lose now and i think what scares afghans more than anything else is a return to the dark days of the taliban or maybe worse. >> mike: is the president, do you think, fully schooled in terms of being able to lead th